Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Chemours Won’t Face Federal Charges Over North Carolina GenX Contamination
May 22 2020 // Federal prosecutors have declined to pursue criminal charges against a chemical company that for years discharged compounds with health risks that aren’t fully understood into a North Carolina river, the company...
Maryland, Virginia, D.C. Intend to Sue EPA on Bay Pollution
May 20 2020 // Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia filed a notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to require two other states to implement plans to cut pollution in the Chesapeake Bay,...
U.S. Completes Overhaul of Biotech Farm Product Regulations
May 18 2020 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday a rule that will simplify or waive agency reviews of certain biotech farm products, including plants and seeds that have been genetically modified or engineered. As...
Trump Safety Regulator Blocks Washington State’s Crude Oil Train Rules
May 13 2020 // The U.S. pipeline regulator late on Monday blocked an effort by Washington state to tighten vapor pressure restrictions on the transport of crude oil by rail, saying the measures would not lower the risk of explosions. The...
Illinois Sues Developer, Contractors Over Coal Plant Implosion
May 7 2020 // The Illinois attorney general’s office has filed a lawsuit against a developer and two contractors for the release of contaminants during the implosion of a smokestack at a defunct Chicago power station. The lawsuit...
Opinion: What If Public Employees Could Sue Government Over Covid-19?
May 7 2020 // Suppose you’re working in an essential industry and your employer hasn’t provided you with adequate personal protective equipment. Maybe you say to yourself, “Okay, there’s a shortage, they’re...
German Judge Casts Doubt on VW’s Defense in Landmark Diesel-Damages Case
May 5 2020 // A German federal court judge cast doubt on Volkswagen’s reasoning after the carmaker urged the court to dismiss a claim for damages brought by an owner of a diesel powered VW Sharan family van. Tuesday’s...
NYC Comptroller Urges Major Insurance Companies to Cut Ties with Coal Industry
Apr 30 2020 // New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer has called on three multi-national insurance companies to end business ties with the coal industry, a move he says will protect clients from the effects of climate change and...
Supreme Court Rejects Trump Administration’s View of Clean Water Act
Apr 27 2020 // The Supreme Court ruled last week that sewage plants and other industries cannot avoid environmental requirements under landmark clean-water protections when they send dirty water on an indirect route to rivers, oceans and...
Specialist MGA Lions Gate Expands Canada Offering with Environmental Insurance Cover
Apr 23 2020 // Lions Gate Underwriting, the Vancouver-based specialist managing general agent, has launched a new Environmental Insurance product as part of its coverage offering. The program is being underwritten by Great American...
Florida Dive Shop Alleges Insurer Breach of Contract, Bad Faith in BI Denial Suit
Apr 22 2020 // A dive shop in South Florida is one of the first businesses in the state to file suit against its insurer for the denial of a business interruption claim initiated because of the current coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit,...
‘Diesel Brothers’ TV Show Appeals Utah Air Pollution Fine
Apr 20 2020 // The stars of the “Diesel Brothers” reality TV show are appealing a federal court ruling requiring them to pay $848,000 to the U.S. government and a Utah county over pollution law violations. U.S. District Judge...
10 Years Later: Oil Drilled Deeper; Rules Relaxed After BP Oil Spill
Apr 20 2020 // Ten years after an oil rig explosion killed 11 workers and unleashed an environmental nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico, companies are drilling in deeper and deeper waters, where payoffs can be huge but risks are greater...
Supreme Court Sides with BP Unit to Curtail Montana Superfund Cleanup Suits
Apr 20 2020 // The U.S. Supreme Court handed BP Plc unit Atlantic Richfield Co. a victory on Monday, making it harder for Montana landowners to seek a more extensive cleanup of a hazardous waste site than the federal government had...
White House Moves to Weaken EPA Rule on Toxic PFA Compounds in Consumer Products
Apr 20 2020 // The Trump White House has intervened to weaken one of the few public health protections pursued by its own administration, a rule to limit the use of a toxic industrial compound in consumer products, according to...
D&O Insurance Coverage and Coronavirus: Avoiding Exclusions
Apr 20 2020 // Sometimes an article needs an introduction to put the subject in context for the reader. Sadly, no introduction is needed for the coronavirus. It will have affected everyone who reads this. Some will have suffered...
California Supreme Court Ruling Will Enable Montrose to Tap Excess Policies
Apr 20 2020 // A decision earlier this month by the California Supreme Court gave policyholders with long-tail environmental claims a potentially big win, finding that polices within each policy period can be vertically stacked. The...
California Supreme Court Ruling Will Enable Montrose to Tap Excess Policies
Apr 7 2020 // A decision this week by the California Supreme Court gave policyholders with long-tail environmental claims a potentially big win, finding that polices within each policy period can be vertically stacked. The decision was...
Delaware Judge Dismisses Chemours Lawsuit Against DuPont
Apr 1 2020 // A Delaware judge has granted the DuPont Co.’s request to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it massively downplayed the cost of environmental liabilities imposed on spinoff company Chemours. Vice Chancellor Sam...
Chemours Claims Against DuPont Over Environmental Liabilities Left to Arbitration
Apr 1 2020 // A Delaware judge has granted the DuPont Co.’s request to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it massively downplayed the cost of environmental liabilities imposed on spinoff company Chemours. Vice Chancellor Sam...
